Safety Corridor funding &ldquo;defies reason&rdquo;

Without arguing the merits of the Caltrans proposal for the Phase One improvements to the 101 Safety Corridor, it is difficult to understand how HCAOG can consider tying up so much funding. The lack of this funding will affect the county severely and this project is not nearly ready to

begin.

CALTRANS has not presented a draft EIR nor has it obtained permits from the Calif. Coastal Commission. It would be understandable to allocate funds to the project if it were anywhere near "shovel-ready." Tom Mattson, advocating for the county made the excellent point that more fatalities occur on our county roads than ever do in the Safety Corridor. Our county roads need to

be fixed NOW. We cannot wait until the year 2020.

Something is very wrong with this process. It is even hard to understand how much this project is to cost. Various articles in the media have put the cost at $24 million or even $31.8 million. We know that the Phase One is supposed to cost $16 million - but what will be the end result?

For how many years will the county roads take a back seat to Caltrans?

The citizens of Humboldt County deserve a clearer explanation of the funding process because it seems totally shortsighted to tie up funding far into the future without a certain start date for the project. It defies reason.